Who Is Zohran Mamdani's Wife Rama Duwaji?

Move over, Melania Trump. There's a new first lady in town. Well, if you happen to live in the sprawling metropolis that is New York City, that is. In 2025, Rama Duwaji entered the political elite as the newlywed wife of Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist politician who, in something of an upset, defeated ex-Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo to become the new mayor-elect of the Big Apple. After his Election Night victory speech, Duwaji joined Mamdani onstage. It was her most public appearance to date and has led to some general curiosity about who she is.   

Of course, Duwaji is far from a trophy wife content to sit on the sidelines. She is a major talent in her own right, having studied illustration at the city's School of Visual Arts. Her work has been displayed by a whole host of major companies, publications, and galleries. What else do we know about the woman who deliberately flew under the radar during Mamdani's triumphant campaign? From her nomadic beginnings and educational achievements to her political inclinations and sartorial choices, here's a look at Rama Duwaji, the First Lady of New York City.

It's fair to say that Rama Duwaji has lived something of a nomadic lifestyle. Duwaji spent the first nine years of her childhood in the United States. She was born in Houston, Texas, in the summer of 1997 to a doctor mother and a software developer father, both of whom hail from Damascus, Syria. According to the New York Post, public records indicate that the family briefly resided in New Jersey before moving to the Persian Gulf. Duwaji spent her pre-teen and teenage years in Dubai. 

She found comfort in the arts as she tried to settle within each new community, regularly getting reprimanded at school for drawing in her educational material. Yet her coping mechanism proved to be invaluable, setting her on an artistic career path that would see her relocate to various places on both sides of the Atlantic.

After studying at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar and later in Richmond, Virginia, Duwaji took up residency in the Big Apple in 2021. She continues to travel, having previously shown off her work in Paris and Beirut, while also visiting her family in Dubai.

Having been moved from pillar to post during her childhood and studying in places as far-flung as Qatar and Virginia, Duwaji inevitably struggled to define who she really was. In 2019, she told Shado magazine that she found it particularly difficult when she moved back to the United States three years earlier.

Duwaji disclosed that with a Western way of thinking, a lighter color of hair, and a limited Arabic vocabulary, not to mention the years she spent in the States as a youngster, she believed she'd naturally fit in with her new surroundings. This didn't prove to be the case. "My sense of identity took a hit, so I think I kind of clung to my Middle Eastern identity, whatever that is," she explained.

This clinging also impacted the way she approached her art: "I went through some cliches and definitely veered on self-orientalism as I explored different visual motifs, but eventually it led to my work today," she added. Much of Duwaji's art explores themes of heritage as it relates to identity, body acceptance, challenging Eurocentric beauty standards, and stigmas surrounding mental health.

Zohran Mamdani may have been a model pupil at Brunswick's Bowdoin College: he contributed to its newspaper, co-founded its Students for Justice in Palestine branch, and eventually graduated with an Africana studies degree, but he's not the only individual in his marriage with an impressive educational background. Following her high school graduation, Duwaji began taking communication arts classes at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts' Qatar satellite campus. In her sophomore year, she relocated to the university's main campus in Richmond, Virginia, where she completed her degree.

Duwaji wasn't done there, however. After gaining some valuable experience in the art world, she landed a place at New York City's School of Visual Arts, where, thanks to a thesis centering on the communal act of cooking and providing food, she earned a master's degree in illustration as visual essay. Soon after, she joined 23 other artists at a Catskill Mountains residency, an honor for which no fewer than 500 of her peers applied.

While her husband, N.Y.C. mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, is fast making a name for himself as one of America's brightest young political figures, Duwaji is emerging as one of America's exceptional young artists.

"Using drawn portraiture and movement, Rama examines the nuances of sisterhood and communal experiences," is how the Texan native's illustrative style is described on her official website. Her work, which includes animation and ceramics, has been shown off in the likes of The Washington Post and The New Yorker, as well as prestigious gallery spaces such as the Tate Modern.

So what does Duwaji hope audiences get out of her work? Alongside making them feel good, she also aims to diversify representation. "I hope my illustrations make women of color send them to their friends and say, 'hey, cute, she has the same nose as you,' or, 'look, it's us,'" she told Shado magazine in 2019. "The goal is to dismantle beauty conventions, but also it's more about the individuals who interact with my work, and their slow but steady growth as they see more unapologetic women of color in media."

Considering that Bill de Blasio and Rudy Giuliani had been married for decades when they assumed the post of New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg was divorced, and Eric Adams had never actually wed his long-term partner, it seems safe to say that Mamdani is the first (soon-to-be) resident of Gracie Mansion to find his first lady via online dating.

Hinge proved to be the perfect matchmaker in this case, as Mamdani revealed on "The Bulwark" podcast while on the campaign trail in 2025. "I met my wife on Hinge, so there is still hope in those dating apps," he said with a grin. Duwaji and Mamdani first got together in 2021. A photo of Mamdani was posted on Duwaji's Instagram as early as October 2021, and an April 2022 post on Mamdani's Instagram hinted at their relationship. It's clear that the algorithms got it right.

A few years after swiping right on each other, Mamdani and Duwaji got engaged. Then, in 2025, in what proved to be a golden year for the couple, they got hitched at their hometown's City Clerk's office. On her Instagram page, photographer and friend Kara McCurdy revealed how she had known the pair were destined to tie the knot: "A few years ago, Zohran and I went for a run to catch up ... About a mile in, Zohran told me, 'I think I'm gonna marry this woman,' and I knew he really meant it."

Apart from a couple of congratulatory social media posts and onstage accompaniments, Duwaji has largely opted to stay quiet when it comes to her New York City Mayor husband Zohran Mamdani's career endeavors. It's not because she isn't on the same political page, but simply because she generally prefers to let her artwork do most of the talking.

In a New York Times profile, several pals claimed that although Duwaji was excited about Mamdani's rapid rise up the political ladder, she was also left feeling overwhelmed by the significant amount of attention such a public role brings. The contradiction this poses to Duwaji's tendency to keep a low profile adds to the glaringly obvious red flags about her marriage to Mamdani.

Duwaji's preference to remain behind the scenes inadvertently led to accusations that she was being deliberately hidden from view by her beloved husband. Mamdani soon put the record straight, captioning a string of wedding photos on Instagram, "Rama isn't just my wife; she's an incredible artist who deserves to be known on her own terms." Duwaji jokingly responded in the comments, "Omg, she is real."

Duwaji has not taken on the traditional role of an incoming mayoral first lady. She completely avoided interviews about her husband's victory at the polls, nor did she publicly comment on Mamdani's political ambitions while the campaign trail was underway. That doesn't mean she hasn't played a pivotal part in Mamdani's political success. Her influence took place behind the scenes.

It is said that Duwaji is responsible, in part, for the vibrant use of colors — blue, red, and orange-yellow — in promotional campaign materials that helped Mamdani carve out a distinct visual identity. Aneesh Bhoopathy, who designed the "Zohran" logo, told Hollywood Reporter that Mamdani knew what he wanted, so it's likely that his artist wife was consulted somewhere down the line. Mamdani's urban muses for the logo's saturated colors and heavy, drop-shadowed lettering were Bollywood film posters, Metro Cards, and New York State Lottery tickets. "It began as being inspired very much by what I would call bodega signage," Bhoopathy said. 

Furthermore, Duwaji also appeared to be pivotal in how the campaign utilized digital media, and her efforts haven't gone unnoticed. "What she is posting has been in line with many of the things that Mamdani has talked about," Quinnipiac University's media studies professor Lisa Burns told CNN. "I'm starting to see some of that work merging, where the advocacy work that she is doing will support the work he is doing — even if it's separate — as opposed to detracting from it."

New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani certainly isn't the only political figure in his relationship. The husband and wife pair, whose age gap is bigger than you'd expect, simply choose to express their politics in different ways. Duwaji prefers to share her views and principles through the medium of art. Over the years, the Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts graduate has created pieces centering on everything from Sudanese Civil War victims to the Gaza conflict.

Speaking to Yung magazine in 2025, Duwaji revealed that she now feels a responsibility to highlight injustices a little closer to home, too: "I'm not going to lie, things are dark right now in NYC. I worry for my friends and family, and things feel completely out of my hands. My art stays [being] a reflection of what's happening around me, but right now, what feels even more useful than my role as an artist is my role as a US citizen."

Duwaji went on to add, "With so many people being pushed out and silenced by fear, all I can do is use my voice to speak out about what's happening in the US and Palestine and Syria as much as I can." 

"And to my incredible wife, Rama, hayati," Zohran Mamdani gleefully declared (via The New York Times) during his victory speech moments after being crowned the new mayor of New York City in November 2025. "Hayati" is the Arabic term for "my life." "There is no one I would rather have by my side in this moment, and in every moment," he continued. This marital pride goes two ways.

In response to the historic occasion, Duwaji uploaded an original skyline illustration to Instagram emblazoned with the words, "I LOVE U NYC" and captioned, "so proud to be a part of this city." Several months earlier, she'd also joined Mamdani onstage as he celebrated defeating former New York governor Andrew Cuomo in the Big Apple's Democratic mayoral primary election. Later on that same day, the artist took to Instagram to further declare her support for her husband.

"Couldn't possibly be prouder," Duwaji captioned a collection of loved-up photobooth snaps taken at an Eid banquet. "Imagine NYC getting the opportunity to have a first lady that is this cool, elegant, talented!!!!!?" responded influencer Chinae Alexander in the comments. "May you both be protected and held up through all of this."

Mamdani achieved several significant milestones when he was elected as mayor of New York City in 2025. Not only is he the first Muslim to ever hold the position, but he is also the first South Asian and the first with an African birthplace. Yet the politician, who has since begged voters for cash, sending his haters' sirens blaring, wasn't the only record breaker on that historic Election Night.

Mamdani's newlywed wife, Rama Duwaji, also became the first-ever Muslim first lady and, at the age of 28, the youngest in the city's rich history, too. In a 2019 interview with Shado magazine, the artist revealed that her own personal hero is another Gen-Z figure far wiser than her years.

"Recently, I've been following Greta Thunberg and what she's been doing. She's 16 years old, and is making great strides about awareness about climate change and its urgencies," Duwaji said. "I'm really inspired by how unapologetic she is in letting people know the hard truths, despite the amount of people who don't take her seriously because of how young she is."

As the record-breaking new first lady of New York City, Duwaji has inevitably come under scrutiny. Her political beliefs, family history, and creative endeavors have been under the microscope, but it's her distinct fashion sense and overall aura that are creating the majority of headlines. Luckily, the media attention surrounding Duwaji's personal style is universally positive.

"Fall's Next Cool-Girl Haircut Is Officially the Rama," noted Vogue, referencing her dark chocolate locks, which bridge the gap between a pixie and a bob. "The 28-year-old artist's style steers clear of the political wife cosplay of pastel skirt suits in favor of something more playful and youthful, yet still elegant," remarked The Guardian. And after being described as an "aloof wife" by the New York Post, fans of the political power couple decided to reclaim such passive-aggression by declaring the season an "aloof wife autumn."

Is Duwaji's effortless sense of cool all her own doing? Well, apparently so. However, both she and husband Mamdani have received unpaid sartorial advice from Bailey Moon, the celebrity stylist whose past clients include Pamela Anderson and another figure with first lady experience, the oft-shady Jill Biden.

Duwaji found out the hard way that when you are on track to become the First Lady of New York City, you have to start dealing with all kinds of oddballs and cranks. Shortly after her husband Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor of the Big Apple, the visual artist took to Instagram to make her 1.4 million followers aware that she was being impersonated on several other social media platforms.

Just a week after the historic victory, Duwaji uploaded an Instagram story in which she shared evidence of an account that looked like it could have been real on the surface, but upon closer inspection (the handle, for example, added an extra "i" to her name) was clearly fake. "This is not me," she insisted (via Irish Star) to a following which has rapidly grown in size since her husband's mayoral campaign.

Shaming the culprit didn't deter others from following suit, though. Soon after, Duwaji highlighted another page masquerading as the New York School of Visual Arts graduate. "I don't have a Twitter or TikTok [account]," Duwaji explained in her Instagram story before confirming that she only ever uses the photo-sharing site.